After graduating from the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2002, Karen worked in a mixed animal practice in Victoria and the UK and then as an intern in Brisbane (BVSC) before moving to Pennsylvania for five years to complete a Haematology and Transfusion fellowship, veterinary clinical pathology residency then lectureship. In 2011, Karen returned to Australia and has since worked as a specialist clinical pathologist in diagnostic pathology and in academia at the University of Adelaide and the University of Queensland as well as more recently signing up for a part-time PhD looking at red-bellied black snake venom effects on erythrocytes. Karen is passionate about veterinary education and diagnostic clinical pathology with specific interests in haematology, transfusion medicine, snake venom research, immunohaematology, and oncology.